Forest Gate North – Rachel Tripp's councillor blog

Rachel and Seyi write…

Ellie has already written a great blog post about the regular surgeries we hold, highlighting some of the issues and concerns residents bring to us on Saturday mornings, at the Gate Library. But we have been concerned that not everyone is able to get to see us in person and so have been thinking about, and working on, different ways for people to contact us.

Firstly, of course any resident can email us, or phone us with their questions, concerns or ideas. If you phone, please do leave a message if haven’t been able to reach us and we will get back to you as soon as we can. See our contact page for more information about all the ways you can get in touch with us. But if a face to face meeting is what you’d like and Saturday mornings aren’t convenient , then you might be interested in a couple of things we are trialling.

Online surgeries

We have held two of these so far, where we keep a particular slot free, and invite residents to contact us by Skype. In the interests of full and honest disclosure, we will say now that so far no resident has chosen to contact us by this method! But we are in effect piloting online surgeries, they are not hard to arrange nor particularly arduous to take part in, so we anticipate trying a couple more before making a decision about whether this is a useful facility to offer. In fact, during our first online surgery, the two of us managed to catch up on several ongoing issues, and clear some emails, so it was a productive time even if not quite in the way we’d hoped.

If you would like to talk to us via Skype rather than on the phone, do email and we can set up a convenient time; you don’t need to wait until the next online surgery.

Pop-up surgeries

We particularly want to hold surgeries over in the west of our ward (Maryland), an area we are keen not to neglect. After some discussion about when and where to hold them, we thought the best way is to go where people are already, and then to be available in case anyone wants to talk to us.

We held a pop-up surgery on Leytonstone High Road, as part of our I Heart Forest Gate campaign, on Friday the 28^th November. Flanked by the trusty community neighbourhood team from the Gate library, we gave out badges and leaflets, talked to residents, and stuck stickers on a map to capture their thoughts about hotspots for litter, fly tipping and ASB.

Whilst we were there, residents stopped to talk to us about topics including parking, their neighbour’s building works, a local homework club and the potential for us doing some work together.

We will be holding another pop-up surgery, at Maryland School, on the 17^th December from 1.45 – 2.45pm. We hope that as with the Leytonstone High Road surgery, this will be a chance for us to engage with residents who would not normally come to the Gate Library on a Saturday, and find out if they have issues we can investigate, or ideas that we can help them with.

As ever, none of this is a complete answer, and reaching out to all residents is something that we will continue to work hard on. If you are reading this, and have more ideas about what we should do in Forest Gate North to reach a wide range of residents then do let us know, either in the comments below, or by contacting us in the usual ways.

Rachel writes…

Just over a week ago, Seyi, Ellie and I did a Saturday afternoon walkabout on the Maryland side of the ward.

We have been talking for some time about not neglecting the very western side of our ward. Forest Gate North is a strangely shaped ward if you spend time examining it on a map, which I am willing to admit most people with things to do will not. (If you fancy it, the map is here.) It’s long and thin, extending further to the East towards Stratford than the name would suggest. To a certain extent, ward boundaries are always arbitrary, as they are polling districts and don’t represent what are sometimes called ‘natural geographies’. Which is to say, you may live in Forest Gate North ward, but describe where you live as ‘Forest Gate’, but elsewhere in the ward you might think of yourself as living in ‘Stratford’, ‘Maryland’, or even, to use the newest piece of putative estate agent parlance, ‘Wanstead Corner‘. None of this is a problem, necessarily, all that matters is as far as possible people have equitable access to services and information.

It is very exciting to see resident-led regeneration happening over on the eastern side of our ward, and we want to offer as much support as we can to things like Woodgrange market, and the community garden. But we really want to make sure that we take some time to connect with people in all areas of the ward, and particularly with those people who might not contact us proactively.

With that in mind, we set off to walk up Leytonstone High Road, on the very eastern side of the ward, to introduce ourselves to as many of the businesses along the road as we could. We also delivered some more of our leaflets with our surgery details to the roads around there, a handy chance to walk up and down the streets, taking in any physical issues, and giving residents a quick reminder that we are there if they need us for signposting, support or information.

It was a good afternoon, although I’ll confess we were all shattered by the end. Business owners were pleased to see us, although some initial reactions ranged from confusion to bemusement. We reflected again on how our diversity and range of languages in Newham is both a strength and a challenge as we explained that no, although we were talking about holding ‘surgeries‘, we weren’t in fact doctors, and we went right back to basics with some shop owners, talking about what the Council does, who we are, and why we do it.

It was a great opportunity to pick up issues and comments and to make contacts that we wouldn’t otherwise make. We took away some specific casework concerning the junction of Gurney Road and Leystonstone Road, spoke to people who were complaining about shops selling fruit and vegetables out on the street, and to someone who wanted to do more of it. We found another fly tipping hot spot, ready to feed into our I Heart Forest Gate Campaign, and we handed over business cards and leaflets, telling people that even if they couldn’t think of something right there and then, we are always available for their comments.

By far the biggest and most consistent issue that the businesses raised was the condition of the road and pavement. This included litter, but also the physical condition of the pavement. The first shop owner we spoke to was very vocal about this, took us outside his shop to show us the areas he was concerned about, and specifically mentioned the border with Waltham Forest which is very close to the area we were in.

When we stood on the eastern side of Leytonstone Road, and looked over the junction into Waltham Forest, I am sorry to report that the visible difference was striking. This was a sobering moment, as all the social and societal factors that affect, for example, the rates of littering in Newham, are evidently exactly the same on one side of the road as they are on the other. It also appeared that the pavements were physically in better condition just on the other side of the borough boundary, as well. As we stood there, rather glumly taking this in, we wondered whether it might partly be a question of when exactly the road sweepers did their rounds. This led to an inadvertant moment of comedy as we spotted a street sweeper on the other side of the road, and spent a minute loitering in what was probably a very obvious way, trying to surreptitiously catch a glimpse of the letters on the back of his hi-vis jacket, all the while hoping that he would be Newham (he was!).

We have heard that Waltham Forest have been successful in bidding for some money specifically for streets and high streets, and talked about finding out more about this, which might also account for some of the contrast. But we left knowing we’d made some good contacts, collected some casework…. and had plenty more still to do.

Next steps for us, then are to follow up the casework, let the shop owners know that we have done so, to find out whether Leytonstone High Road is counted as a ‘high street’ within Newham, whether this is possible, and whether if it were, this would make a difference to how it is maintained, and to find out more about Waltham Forest’s evident success in physically regenerating high streets, and whether there is something here we could replicate. As ever, no easy solutions here, but we will keep on pursuing it, and keep reporting back to you.

Rachel writes…

Along with parking, litter and fly tipping remain among the top issues that residents contact us the three of us about. So we put our heads together to think about how we could make a difference, and we are starting, right now, a mini campaign.

It’s called ‘I heart Forest Gate‘. Because the thing that unites all the various people who have talked to us about their concerns is that they genuinely love the area and they want it to be better.

We want to hear from you, during November, about the places in the ward where we could make a difference. Places where litter, fly tipping or anti-social behaviour are a recurrent problem. We want to know what the problem is, and also any intelligence you have about any of the above: any particular times or days when things happen, or other information that might help not just to observe what is happening, but also to help stop it.

Once we have collected all the information we can from anyone who wants to contribute, we will collect it together, and agree a small number of ‘hotspots’. We want to then work with the Newham Enforcement team to concentrate on these areas that you’ve told us concern you so that we can make a real difference, either through some officer presence, working with the police, enforcement action, problem-solving to figure out where issues are coming from, or perhaps something else entirely.

Then we want to report back to you, to let you know what we’ve done, or are doing, and for you to let us know whether things seem better.

Being part of ‘I heart Forest Gate’

We want this campaign to be all about our residents, and the places that you think could be better. The more information we have, the better we can identify where needs attention. Please do get in touch.

Contact us however you would prefer. It would be most helpful, though, if you used the following methods rather than telephoning us, just so that we can be sure that we have a record of the area and issue you are letting us know about. Also, it can sometimes be difficult for us to answer the phone, if we are busy doing other things, and using the methods below means we can definitely get your information, and use it.

Twitter
It’s no secret that we love twitter. You can tweet any of us or all of us, and please use the hashtag #iheartforestgate as this will help us raise awareness, and collect all the information together.
Ellie – @elliecrobinson
Rachel – @rectripp
Seyi – @seyiakiwowo

Email us
You can email all three of us, or just one of us, whichever you prefer (we won’t take offence).
seyi.akiwowo@newham.gov.uk, ellie.robinson@newham.gov.uk, rachel.tripp@newham.gov.uk

Come to a surgery
Come and see us at the Gate library, Woodgrange Road, 4-20 Woodgrange Rd, London E7 0QH on a Saturday morning from 10.30 – 11.30

Write to us
Or you can write to any of us at the following address:
London Borough of Newham
Newham Dockside
1000 Dockside Road
London
E16 2QU

We will also hold a street surgery one day (likely to be the 28th November, but date and venue to be confirmed – check this blog for confirmation) to ask passers-by for their input.

If you have already contacted us about casework that you think falls into this category, then please be reassured that we log all our casework, and are going to go back over all those cases which relate to litter, fly-tipping or ASB, and make them part of this process. If you have already contacted us but want to contact us again to make doubly sure that we definitely have your information and will include it in this process, then please do so.

Some FAQs…

What will you do with the information?
We will log it, and collate the areas and any intelligence, and use it with our colleagues in Enforcement and if appropriate with the police and other partners, to see if we can take action to improve the situation. We won’t share your details with anyone outside the Council without your permission.

What if the information I send you is outside Forest Gate North?
Then we will send it on to your ward councillors so that they can deal with it for you.

How will I know what happens?
You can check this blog for updates. Also, if you take part in I heart Forest Gate and send information to us, we will get back to you and let you know which hotspots we have focussed on, and what happens as a result.

How will you choose which areas to target?
This will depend on what information we receive. Ideally, we want to be guided by feedback, so will choose those areas that lots of people let us know about. However, we know that some residents are more able to contact us than others, and also that there may be some areas with more intractable problems (and correspondingly, other problem areas that are easier to tackle). We will report back on the areas we chose, and why, and will be as transparent as we can about what we are doing and why.

Why are you only worried about litter and fly tipping and ASB in November 2014? Why not all year?
We are always concerned about these things! You can let us know at any time where you think that something should be done. But we want to experiment with a more targetted look at the ward, to see if we can harness information from residents to make a visible difference, and this is how we are doing it.

Will you do this again?
We might. We will see how this way of working goes, and will report back (honestly) on how successful it was. Depending on the results, we may do it again, or we might try something similar in a different way, or we may abandon it entirely. We will let you know.

———————————

I heart Forest Gate
Tackling litter, fly tipping and ASB
Love your local area? Get in touch and tell us where we could make a difference #iheartforestgate

Ellie writes…

I don’t know if anyone saw the news last week that the NHS is now collecting data and recording cases of Female Genital Mutilation? It is a great step forward.

In my role as a Cabinet member in Newham I have responsibility for preventing violence against women and girls. This information will help us understand how big the issue is and therefore how long our journey is to eradicating it. However, there is no point in collecting data without supporting the women behind the figures.

Yesterday, I spoke on a panel with the police, social services, survivors and others at a very useful event in Canning Town (expertly chaired by Councillor Ann Easter!). It was run by our FGM prevention service to get the message out to professionals. They showed this very moving video which I would urge you to watch and share.

Lets not mince our words, FGM is about cutting a woman’s vagina with a knife. This can mean taking a blade to a five year old girl’s genitals without any pain relief causing long lasting damage, physical and psychological.

No religious, social or cultural justification can defend a practice so blatantly rooted in gender inequality. Controlling female sexuality causing severe damage in return for an idea about women’s purity and men’s enjoyment.

So, despite the huge cuts to our budget, Newham have just set up an FGM prevention service as part of our One stop Shop for sexual and domestic violence. It is the first of its kind in the country, and we need it to do three things:

Firstly, to help us better understand the problem by undertaking research and collecting comprehensive data.

Secondly, to support those affected and to work with those at risk. This will be done through casework advocacy, and empowering victims to report to the police. The service has already run training for hundreds of professionals to help them recognise the problem, including all of the local maternity department.

Thirdly and finally, to challenge, and change behaviours. In addition to yesterday’s event the service has already held dozens of community events including the one I mention here with the Forest Gate W.I. In addition, they are training community champions and organising awareness raising campaigns.

Sadly, of course, all of this is being delivered in the context of this Tory government rapidly shrinking our funds and decimating support across the country such as rape counselling and domestic violence services.

So the news about the NHS recording FGM figures is all good but if the funding and services aren’t available to support those affected it will amount to very little.

FGM is illegal and can land you in prison for 14 years. It doesn’t exist in any world I want to be a part of. We need to dig out the roots and we need the political will, the practical commitment and the essential resources to eradicate for ever a practice that has no place in the 21st Century.

If you would like to receive training or help run a community event please do get in touch with me. If you would like to talk to the service for support they are based in our One Stop Shop for domestic and sexual violence which has a 24 help line on 0845 451 2547.

Seyi Writes…

As much as we would like to it’s not possible to blog on EVERYTHING we do so I thought residents may find it easier to know what I have been up to and where to meet with me. So as an experiment I will list my surgeries dates and time and the events and public meetings I will be attending over the next couple months. I will keep this particular post updated in case anything changes, I hope many of you find this useful. If you would like to invite me or my colleagues (Rachel and Ellie) to your events/meetings or for a coffee please do get in touch: seyi.akiwowo@newham.gov.uk .

Last updated: 06/11/2014

October 

Sunday 12th October, 11am, #TidyOutFlats, Wanstead Flats

Sunday 12th October, 12pm, Globus Art School, Magpie Lodge 

Monday 13th October, 6-7:30pm, Leafletting around Maryland

Wednesday 15th October, 7:30pm, Field Community Centre, Newham Talking Newspaper

Thursday 16th October, 6-8pm, The Gate Library- A celebration of the life of Dr Maya Angelou

Saturday 18th October, 11-:30-1pm, Magpie Lodge, Swan Housing Fun Day

Saturday 18th October, 1:30pm,  Jubliee Pond Woodland Project Big Draw

Monday 20th October, 6-7:30pm, Leafletting around Magpie Park

Thursday 23rd October, 6-7pm, Online/Telephone Resident surgery

Skype ID: CllrSeyiAkiwowo Telephone: 02032874797. Happy to use Google Hangout also.

Saturday 25th October, from 10:30am, The Gate Library, Resident Surgery

Monday 27th October, 6-7:30pm, Leafletting around the west side of the ward (Forest Gate Station)

November

Saturday 1st November, from 10:30am, The Gate Library, Resident Surgery

Saturday 1st November, 12:30-2pm, Walk about, Maryland

Friday 14th November, 7:30pm,  Forest Gate Youth Zone, Listening Session with FG Youth

Friday 21st November, 7pm,  Forest Gate Youth Zone, Listening Session with FG Youth

Wednesday 26th November, 10-11am, The Gate Library Coffee Morning

Thursday 27th November, 6-7pm, Online/Telephone Resident surgery

Skype ID: CllrSeyiAkiwowo Telephone: 02032874797. Happy to use Google Hangout also.

December 

Saturday 6th December, 1-8pm, Woodgrange Market, Forest Gate Christmas Lights

Saturday 13th December, from 10:30am, The Gate Library, Resident Surgery

Sunday 14th December, from 12pm, Forest Gate Youth Zone, The Challenge Network Dragon’s Den event

Seyi Writes….

Attention all Forest Greaters and Dr. Maya Angelou fans!

On 16th October from 6pm, The Gate Library are hosting this fantastic event to celebrate the life of one of the world’s greatest writers and inspirational figures.

There will be artistic presentations of her work, book readings artists and lots more!

Refreshments will also be available so register your attendance ASAP: Glennette.Bowlesdove@newham.gov.uk or call 02033738382/07817385000

I look forward to seeing many of you then!

S:)

Ellie writes…

Over the summer a dozen young people took part in the first year of Stephen Timms‘ Political Summer School. A great programme to give young people an insight into politics. As part of this programme I welcomed them to the Newham Council offices to discuss the role of the council, the job of a councillor and how to run a political campaign.

We had a really fun day and it was great to see them so engaged and interested in politics. The highlights for me were:

– watching their robust (!) conversation with the Mayor and Chief Executive about the varied services the council delivers from housing to youth provision and how you choose priorities in a landscape of shrinking resources

– introducing them to Tulip Sidiq, a Councillor in Camden and Prospective a Parliamentary Candidate for the Labour Party who gave them a valuable insight into running for Office and campaigning locally

– helping them work on designing their own parties with a manifesto and a campaign and communication plan. They used data about their local community to create a party that would appeal to residents in East Ham. They were then put in front of the Dragons (aka Cabinet Members Ken Clark and Forhad Hussain) to present their campaigns. The Equality Party won though the People Party (whose main policy resembled rent caps) came very close.

I hope the young people enjoyed their time with us and left feeling more enthused about getting involved in politics. It is a worrying reflection on politics that most of the students I met before the summer at a local sixth form could not name prominent politicians like Gordon Brown, George Osborne or Nick Clegg. And the kids at a local primary school thought Councillors just dealt with parking (though to be fair it does feel like that sometimes! And it beat the time when I spoke at a primary school about how exciting it is to be a councillor and my slot followed a Farmer who had bought in real animals…)

If you are a local person under 25 and interested in getting involved in the Labour Party please do check out the Newham Young Labour Facebook Page. NYL is an incredibly friendly, vibrant and interesting group which would make you feel very welcome and introduce you to lots of new people including prominent politicians and fun, local activists. It is about to go through a revamp so now is an excellent time to get involved.

Rachel writes…

I mentioned in an earlier post my frustration with the litter left on Wanstead flats, which I felt especially keenly during the (brilliant) #tidyourflats session that Misty organises with the Corporation of London. It seems that once the weather improves, everyone spends more time outdoors. Now, there is of course nothing wrong with this. One of the many lovely things about living so close to Wanstead flats is how well-used it is by the local community. I love seeing families romping around, young people hanging out together, and dog walkers stomping around out there. But when people finish their time outdoors by leaving behind their takeaway boxes, empty drinks bottles and worse, then this becomes a very big problem.

Seyi, Ellie and I have been discussing recently that the problem seems to have become much worse very suddenly. I worry that there is a bit of the ‘broken windows’ theory going on here: once there is litter around then other people notice that the area is untidy, and in turn have less incentive to take away their own litter, feeling it makes no difference and that they have no power to make things better.*

As well as litter, there is a big problem with fly-tipping too. One can only conjecture on the perfect storm of factors which mean that Newham has such a high rate of fly-tipping, but as with the litter, I worry that the high rate of fly-tipping is itself an encouragement to other fly-tippers, who see it as normalised. The Council spends a huge amount of time and resources clearing up rubbish that is dumped on our streets – I report things I see regularly on my phone using the rather brilliant Love Newham app. Again, I am torn here between being pleased by how quickly rubbish is removed, and annoyed that it was left there to begin with.

It seems that a lot of fly-tipping is done along the edge of the flats on Capel Road (and I need to announce a vested interest here, as it’s where I live). Most of it is the usual collection of boxes, mattresses, and other bits. Some of it is mysterious as well: who is regularly dumping suitcases full of broken glass, for example? And why?!

Depressingly, rather than coming up with a magical solution which I can announce here, I instead wanted to write to share my frustration with it, and to assure the increasing numbers of people in Forest Gate who share my pride in our lovely area, and my anger at those people who sully it, that we do want to improve things. Between us, Ellie, Seyi and I are going to meet with the Corporation of London (who are in charge of Wanstead flats). We also want to chat with the police, and with the Newham enforcement team. It may be that there are some regular perpetrators who, with some intelligence and information from local people, can be caught. It may be that between the Corporation, the police, and Newham, we can better co-ordinate the action we are taking.

I have heard that there is a desire to keep Wanstead flats as a ‘wild’ and undeveloped space, and this is partly why there are no litter bins on there, but I would like to discuss this more with the Corporation as I wonder whether the levels of litter mean this needs revisiting. My personal feeling is that a wild space cannot be very inviting or friendly to wildlife when it’s swilling with crisp packets, but I will be the first to admit that I lack understanding and knowledge in this area.

If you are reading this, and you have any specific information about litter or fly-tipping that you think could help to prevent it, then please do contact us and let us know. Some residents have already been in touch via twitter and our surgery, and told us some hotspots, and some particular times when rubbish seems to be left more than others. This information is really valuable and helpful – we do appreciate it and please keep this kind of intelligence coming! We pass it on where possible, and Newham’s enforcement team are very assiduous in following these kind of things up (although it does take time to do properly) so we are hopeful.

Of course I am certain that no readers of this blog would ever dream of leaving anything behind them other than footprints, but it goes without saying that we should all pick up after ourselves. Everything. Cigarette butts, dog poo, chewing gum wrappers…. all of it. I have sometimes pleasantly spoken to people who dropped things, too, “Excuse me, I think this is yours.” But … whilst I am fervently of the view that I want to live in a world where people engage with each other, and people should participate and help each other, and call each other out when necessary… .at the same time, I am never quite sure whether this achieves anything other than making me look sanctimonious and annoying the litter-dropper. Not everyone is comfortable doing this, either.

So. We will meet with the people and organisations who may know more. We can all report rubbish and fly-tipping using the Love Newham app (itunes link here, android link here). We can all turn up to the next #tidyourflats session. And if you have any other ideas for how we could make things better, do let us know.

*It was a resident who came to see me in my surgery who reminded me about this theory. I confess I had read about it before, but it struck me as particularly applicable when she mentioned it. I won’t break her anonymity, but will include a quick hat tip to R for helping me clarify my thoughts!

Seyi writes….

Just before the summer break the Forest Gate Community Neighbourhood Team ran the Street Connections Project on Tower Hamlets Road.  This pilot project is being trialled across Newham, with two areas having already been successfully completed in Hartsworth Road (Plaistow) and Browning Road (Manor Park). The purpose of the project is to improve the look and feel of a chosen street and make this sustainable by encouraging residents to interact and join together to take care of their environment. There were three key stages to the project

• Information
  • Informing residents of the project
  • Connecting residents with their neighbours, Councillors and the Forest Gate Community Neighbourhood team
• Cleaning and cleaning and working together
  • Coming together to decide common challenges on Tower Hamlets Road and how we can move forward as a team.
• Adding value to front gardens

As part of the programme residents received:

• free bulky waste collection dedicated to Tower Hamlets Road;
• free assistance in helping clear front gardens or yard from any unwanted items, overgrowing vegetation etc;
• free assistance in landscaping frontage and help to repave and fix walkways and driveways;
• free assistance in helping residents fix and re-point front fencing and front walls;
• free hanging baskets, containers and plants;
• Groundworks provided residents with free advice, guidance and training on basic front garden maintenance;
• removal of any graffiti.

All resident received an information letter through their letter boxes but to make sure we engaged with all residents on Tower Hamlets Road we decided to knock on the doors of residents we had not yet heard from. There was a particular front garden that was so run down we assumed the house was abandoned but we still knocked. Eventually a frail old man answered the door and was really keen to get involved with the project as best as he and his wife could. To see their neighbours the following week helping to improve his front garden; Groundworks trimming his hedges  and restoring his front wall was really lovely to see.  Those small changes as well as putting up a beautiful hanging basket made such a positive difference to that couple’s life. Another memorable moment the great and productive discussion among residents about their ideas for their street. A funny point that illustrates the heart of Street Connections Project was during the mind mapping discussion residents couldn’t believe they had lived on the same side of the road for 5+ years and have never met each other. The Street Connections Project successfully ended a few weeks ago with a painting afternoon of St James’ Primary School’s railing.

I hope to hear about flourishing relationships on Tower Hamlet Road and the work they have started.